Ingram- 156carries, 602yds, 3.9ypc, 5TDs, 35yds longest, 6 catches, 4.8ypc Both his first two seasons have been at 3.9ypc I have more question about the Saints use of him than his ability. Like we saw Reggie move up to over 2000yds in two seasons in Miami I wonder if Ingram just needs more carries. I don't think most would complain if his combined numbers for two years were into one. That would be 278 carries, 1078yds, 10 TDs. B with an asterisk on the team use of him and not his play

PT23- his consistent avg the past 2 years: 108 carries, 517yds, 4.8ypc, 45 catches, 8.7ypc His role has become quite defined after 6 years. He's a great change of pace back that will never handle a heavy workload. The best screen pass receiver in the game for my money. A rock steady and does all that is asked of him

Sproles- He was derailed with the hand injury a few games. That's the biggest factor in looking at his numbers down. I do think Payton made even better use of his skills though. A perfect piece in the repertoire of his offense. B just for the outage time

Ivory- put his three seasons into one and you have this: 256carries, 1307yds, 5.1ypc, 8 Tds, 3 catches. I'm thinking he's chomping at the bit as a RFA to get more reps somewhere else. It will cost a 2nd rd tag to keep him. No receiving threat, still weak as a blocker, and injury prone are negatives. Still I think most would like to see how he could produce in an expanded role. A like Ingram it seems more the team's management of him has kept his numbers lower than the game he brings.

Cadet- We didn't see much besides him kick returning this year. I like him developing as a backup and potential replacement for Sproles eventually. C or more like and Incomplete for so few reps

Love most of your posts, but I've got to disagree. I think he is a good, hard runner. I'd even go so far as to say that he's the hardest runner on the team. But that's it.

You say:

quote:No receiving threat, still weak as a blocker, and injury prone

This is precisely why he gets so little playing time. You have to be able to catch the ball and pass block in our offense...moreso than most offenses in the league. We run screens. We play out of the gun. You must do these things to play RB on the Saints (at least in this era of Saints football).

I still vividly recall the damned pick 6 that volleyed from his hands in the Falcon's loss (fine, it was a little behind him). It was probably only 1 of 3 passes they threw his way all season.

He is a B- or C+ in my book, solely due to his one-dimensional nature.

quote:You have to be able to catch the ball and pass block in our offense...moreso than most offenses in the league. We run screens. We play out of the gun. You must do these things to play RB on the Saints (at least in this era of Saints football).

I seen quite a few games where Ivory was wide open on the left side of the field and Drew threw the deep ball down the field. Who says he can't catch it out the backfield?? They just never throw to him. He is made one dimensional by his utilization in the game by the coaches. Ever see the screen run for him? His career YPC makes him no less than a C.

quote:He is a B- or C+ in my book, solely due to his one-dimensional nature.

as mentioned, my grade is their performance relative to what my expectation is- not as a grade of how good of a player they are.

Jimmy Graham is a A+ tight end. I'd prolly go B- in grade though cuz the bar is so high for him. Dave Thomas is a C tight end for me. I'd give him an A though on 20 catches. He fulfilled all that was asked of him.

Also salary plays into my grade of a player. With a salary cap, bringing the cumulative most bang for the buck is the essence of NFL success. Examples would be at safety...

Both safeties had poor seasons. Jenkins was a $2.6mil cap hit. Harper was a $6.4mil cap hit. Next year that is $3.8mil for Jenks and $7.1mil for Harper ($15mil next 2yrs). So even if Harper performed better than Jenks he was a much bigger fail in the production to price ratio.

Dammit, I love Ivory's hard nosed running. But he cant stay on the field without getting nicked up. Just based on that, and ignoring all others, I'd be nervous to rely on him as a permanent piece of the backfield pie.

Anyone ever hear as to why Pierre went MIA for two or three games? Was he hurt? Bad personnel choices?